Approximately ten percent of all imports to Germany arrive by sea via the Red Sea – encompassing the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab al-Mandab. This represents a trade volume of 136 billion euros in 2023, according to a study published Wednesday by the Ifo Institute.
“Various critical raw materials or important preliminary products for industry reach Germany by sea via the Red Sea” explained Lisandra Flach, trade expert at Ifo. “This sea route is therefore of particular geo-economic importance for Germany.
A similarly significant proportion of German imports travel via the Strait of Malacca (8.7 percent of imports) and the Taiwan Strait (7.1 percent). In contrast, the importance of the Strait of Hormuz and the Panama Canal for German foreign trade is comparatively lower. Only 0.5 percent of all German imports arrived via the Panama Canal in 2023 and a mere 0.4 percent through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Global trade is concentrated on a few sea routes with strategic bottlenecks, such as the Suez Canal or the Strait of Bab al-Mandab” stated Katharina Erhardt of the University of Düsseldorf, co-author of the study. “Blockades or disruptions to these routes, as recently seen with the attacks by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, have significant economic consequences for Germany.
The study was commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
